Dirk Galuba becomes 85: The person behind the “Sturm der Liebe” role

Think TV viewers of Dirk Galuba, a little later the name Werner Saalfeld falls. Since season one, Galuba, who turns 85 on August 28, embodies the hotel director in the ARD-Telenovela “Sturm der Liebe” (since 2005). The actor originally wanted to take a different career path.

Dirk Galuba was born in 1940 in Piła, Poland (formerly Schneidemühl in the former Pomerania) and grew up in Bremen. However, he has lived in Munich for many years. “Sturm der Liebe” is created in the Bavaria film studios and the exterior shots in the surrounding area. He feels comfortable in traditional costume, but what about the Bavarian dialect? He explained in 2015: “If I could do it perfectly, I would use it. But only if you master a dialect perfectly, it is coherent. But I am not particularly talented in imitation dialects. That is the responsibility of the cabaret artists, not the actor.”

In the same interview, Galuba also spoke about his profession: “I have been an actor since 1967, I was always challenged, was always disciplined – that’s just my favorite profession!” But the 85-year-old initially had different professional plans: Galuba began studying medicine in Münster, but then moved to Munich for the theater science course with a minor subject. He also took private acting lessons and after three semesters broke off his studies to fully devote himself to his passion. For this he attended the Westphalian drama school in Bochum, which he completed in 1967. In Bochum he was also on the theater stage, followed by engagements in Heidelberg, Lübeck, Berlin, Munich or Cologne.

He was also seen in cinema and television productions from 1969. Galuba gained international acting experiences. In 1991 he played in the action film “Indio 2 – The Revolt” alongside the professional boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler (1954-2021). In 2001 he took on a role in the “Band of Brothers – We were brothers” by the executing producers Steven Spielberg (78) and Tom Hanks (69).

His German cinema productions also include “The Schimmelreiter”, “Lili Marleen” or “Die Wolke”. On TV you could already see him in several “crime scenes” or in the series “Derrick”, “The Alte” or “Soko Munich”. But not only before the camera, galluba works. As a voice actor, he has already worked for some anime productions such as “Princess Mononoke” or “One Piece” or movies such as “Mad Max 2 – The Enforcement”. He also lent his voice several figures of the cult series “The Simpsons”. Dirk Galuba spoke the boxer Drederick Tatum, the Mafiaboss Fat Tony or John Madden.

Galuba also found his luck privately. “My young woman keeps me young” ,. The Italian Enrica had seen the actor in his “Sturm der Liebe” role on TV and visited a fan meeting, which then sparked. “That was in 2017, a year later she came to me with her little Fiat from Genoa with all her things,” said Galuba. The two have been married since 2019, his wife was 41 years younger at the wedding. “Enrica is my third and my last wife, I also told her that she is my great love. Nothing comes after that.”

All of his relationships and marriages remained childless. “I would like to be a big family man like the Saalfeld, with children and grandchildren! Unfortunately, I don’t have any, in this respect it is a bit of wishful thinking,” he said in the “AZ” interview. He also revealed: “Children would have already come into question. My first wife – an actress – did not want to get children and the second didn’t want to work. I would have been happy about young people, but now I have to accept childlessness.”

So that he continues to stay fit, the wife of Enrica is “excellent and healthy, with a lot of vegetables, it ensures that I enjoy everything in dimensions,” indicated galluba in the “AZ” interview. “In addition, we take long walks and dumbbell training every day and I regularly go to the treadmill and the cross trainer.” And for his fresh appearance in old age, the actor also has another explanation: “At 70, my mother still looked like a 17-year-old girl, I probably inherited her genes.”